Just in a physical office, an onboarding meeting is also crucial when hiring remote employees to be part of your team. It is important to discuss matters such as company goals, expectations, tasks, compensation, culture, etc. with your newly hired virtual assistants as early as the first day. This ensures that any confusion and unrealistic expectations are eliminated.
At Outsource School, we have a unique onboarding process called the SICC Method. The acronym SICC stands for: schedule, internet and power issues, communication, and culture. Any time we hire someone new for our team, we make sure to bring them through this method.
You may be wondering why there’s a need to go through such an extensive process when you can just give them documents to study. In this article, we will highlight the 5 reasons why holding a team and culture onboarding meeting with new hires is essential.
Once you’ve read and understood the reasons, you will most probably find yourself agreeing and will proceed to including this in your virtual assistant new hire onboarding process.
Let’s get right to it!
1. Proper introduction to the team.
There’s no better way to introduce new hires to your team than in an onboarding meeting where most, if not all, of your team members are present. Make sure to introduce each team member by name and give a quick overview of what they do. This will give your new hire an idea on who to go to when they need help with certain tasks.
On top of this, new hires will become familiar with the organizational structure of your company. They won’t be left clueless when an issue arises because they’ll know who exactly to report to.
2. It makes them feel connected to the mission and vision of the company.
Most people do not realize that the company’s vision and mission statements play an essential role in ensuring the success of the organization. The mission statement serves as the team’s clear and practical guide for making decisions. On the other hand, the vision statement ensures that every decision made is appropriately aligned with what the team hopes to achieve.
One of the reasons why conducting a team and culture onboarding meeting is important is because of these two factors:
- This is where you’ll be introducing your company’s mission and vision statements.
- Making sure that they know the mission and vision of the company ensures that their own goals align with your organization’s.
3. An onboarding meeting gives you the opportunity to discuss your company’s values.
Aside from the company’s mission and vision, you should also discuss your company values during the onboarding meeting. With a clear understanding of the values your company upholds, your employees will understand what you stand for, what you believe in, and also apply this to their own professional lives.
These company values will also serve as a guide as they advance further in their career. If they are guided by the right set of values, they’ll be able to make sound decisions that will serve to benefit not only themselves but also your company.
4. It makes them feel valued and heard.
Though your newly hired virtual assistants have only been with you for a minute, it is important to make sure they do not feel as if they are less valued and heard compared to the tenured members of your team. The warmth and sincerity of the welcome they receive from your team during the onboarding meeting will make them feel valued and excited to begin working.
While new hires will always show a certain level of enthusiasm during the first month or so working with a new company, this can easily run out. It is your job to make sure your employees are continuously motivated and when it comes to new hires, the best way to do this is by making sure they feel valued, heard, and that they are important to your organization.
5. It gives new hires an idea of the type of working environment in your company.
The culture and working environment varies from one company to another. Some organizations are purely formal; the employees are solely focused on their work. Meanwhile, there are more relaxed work environments and these are the ones that foster employee relationships more than anything and is what’s usually adopted in virtual offices.
There are many other reasons why it is vital to hold a team and culture onboarding meeting. If you haven’t implemented this in your new hire onboarding process yet, I highly encourage you to do so. Your entire organization will benefit greatly from this step.
